


Beehaw Week

by Jakobre_the_Writer



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bandit!Blake, Beehaw, Beehaw week, Bounty Hunter!Yang, F/F, Not the cursed kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25389469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jakobre_the_Writer/pseuds/Jakobre_the_Writer
Summary: A series of connected one shots for SayoHyou's Beehaw Week!Bounty Hunter Yang Xiao Long is a legend unto herself, carving a legacy across Vacuo. What she never expected was the strange woman walking along the road who would change her life forever.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 34
Kudos: 110





	1. Day One-Country Girl/Bandit

It would be inaccurate to describe the Vacuon desert as inhospitable. Rather, the Vacuon desert was really more like a hundred different inhospitable places rolled into one to form a single, impossible location that was as adverse to life as it was to rain. There were only a handful of places that it was even possible to live in Vacuo, and every one of them was fit to bursting with people trying not to get shoved into the desert that surrounded them. Long roads of hot, difficult travel linked these various settlements, criss crossing the desert in an inexplicable honeycomb pattern that really only made sense to the person who had devised it and the people who dared to travel it. 

The desert wasn’t the only trouble on the road, either. Bandits and worse things preyed upon caravans and travelers, waiting for any sign of weakness or loss of direction, stalking their prey for weeks before striking. The only safe times to travel were in the early morning and evening, which conveniently were also the easiest times to get jumped by bandits. 

But not everyone was worried about bandits on the road, far from it. There were a few special people, peacekeepers, outlaws, gunslingers, and the like, who thrived in the desert. After all, the local town was no place for gun shows, unless you were the sheriff and there wasn’t a sheriff skilled enough to put on a gunshow outside of Vacuo City itself. Just as much as the desert was a haven for bandits, it was a playground for bounty hunters and gunslingers looking to make a name for themselves.

One such gunslinger was making her way between Vacuo City and Tuff, a long, winding road that took two weeks of horseback riding on a good day. Between the overalls, dirty white shirt, orange bandana, boots, and wide brimmed hat, she looked every bit the archetype of a cowboy, brought to life with shimmering blonde hair and burning lilac eyes. She might have even been considered a sideshow or a hoax, someone playing at bounty hunter if it weren’t for the revolver at her hip and the shotgun slung across her back. That, and the bounty poster she was reading as she traveled, guiding her horse with nothing but her legs, made it clear to anyone looking that she wasn’t just someone with a gun and a horse. She was a professional.

Yang Xiao Long had been making a name for herself for years now, traveling around Vacuo and completing bounties where she found them. It wasn’t just her impeccable shooting that made her a growing legend, it was also her knack for tracking. Growing up in a small hunting village like Patch had its advantages, and the skills needed to track a deer were easily transferred to tracking a man. The only difference was that deer knew when to stop running. Even now, though she was still a young woman in her twenties just starting out as a bounty hunter, it was well known that if you ran from Yang Xiao Long, you died tired. 

There wasn’t much that could surprise Yang anymore, not these days. People had habits and the desert had habits of its own. She knew Vacuo like she knew her horse, Ember, it was instinctual and natural, the same way she knew how to breathe. In fact, the only thing that could surprise Yang was out in front of her, making her furrow her brow as she looked up from the bounty poster. 

It was a woman in a long black dress, but in a style that Yang didn’t recognize. It wasn’t fancy like in Atlas and it certainly wasn’t the skirts and bodices of Vacuo. More importantly it was black, a color that was a deathwish for anyone in the desert. Outside of the color, it looked almost practical, though Yang had never met a dress she’d call practical. Most didn’t even have pockets. What caught Yang’s eye the most was the sword at the woman’s hip, long with a slight curve. That made her furrow her brow even further, nobody in their right mind went without a gun in Vacuo. 

“What do you think, girl?” Yang asked Ember, leaning over to talk into her horse’s ear, “Should we help out?” Ember snorted in that personable way she had and Yang sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. She’ll die out here if we don’t.” Yang clicked her tongue and tapped Ember lightly with her heels, the horse picking up the pace. As they closed in on the woman, Yang yelled out, “Hey! Stranger!”

The woman glanced over her shoulder and Yang felt a heat pierce her body that was entirely unrelated to the desert. The woman was gorgeous, long black hair framing a beautiful brown face with piercing amber eyes, a fiercely intelligent glint behind them. Her lips were set into a small frown and her cat ears twitched on top of her head as she looked at Yang, then rolled her eyes and looked away. 

“Hey!” Yang called out again, riding up until she was behind the woman by a horse length. “Whatcha doing out here?” The woman said nothing, only set her shoulders and increased her walking speed. Yang frowned and rode up until she was side by side with the woman, saying, “It’s another week and a half to Tuff. You lose your horse or somethin’?” The woman said nothing. “Well...uh...I’m Yang,” Yang said, turning in her saddle to extend her hand. Immediately the woman sprung into action, moving faster than Yang thought possible. She grabbed Yang’s arm and twisted, pulling her free from the saddle with one smooth motion. Yang yelped as she was flung to the ground. She rolled to her knees as she landed, snatching her arm away and snapping it to her revolver, but the woman was faster. Yang heard the sound of her sword unsheathing and suddenly felt a cold blade on her throat, the woman glaring down at her and her sword resting underneath Yang’s chin. Despite everything, Yang could feel that same heat increasing as she stared up at the woman. “Shit.”

“When the tiger roars, the stars align,” the woman snarled and Yang frowned.

“The fuck does that mean?” she asked and the woman groaned in exasperation, flicking her sword away and sheathing it before Yang could blink. The woman turned to keep walking and Yang said, “Well, hang on!”

This time the woman stopped and looked at her with contempt and Yang stood, towering over the woman. “What?”

“You really gonna walk to Tuff? It’s a week and a half on horseback and you sure as shit don’t have the supplies,” Yang said and the woman took a step back, hand drifting to her sword. Yang narrowed her eyes, her hand settling her revolver again. 

“I’ve walked farther,” the woman said and Yang nodded slowly.

“I betcha have. Still not worth riskin’ it in Vacuo.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed and she hissed, “Why do you care?”

Yang sighed and stood up to her full height, letting her hand drift away from her revolver. The woman didn’t move her hand off her sword, but she did seem to relax now that the immediate danger was passed. “I saw somebody who needed help. I wanted to help you, and you threw me off my horse.” The woman’s eyes narrowed and Yang raised an eyebrow. “I mean that. I just wanna help.”

“Why?”

“Cause it’s the right thing to do? I’m a bleedin’ heart? You’re absolutely gonna die in that black dress if I don’t, and I don’t want that on my conscience?” Yang said, listing off reasons on her fingers as she went. The woman sighed and she let her hand drift away from her sword.

“It’s a robe, and I don’t need help. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re travelin’ near midday, which means you’re not from around here,” Yang drawled and the woman frowned again, “Not to mention if a bandit clan found you, I don’t think that little sword trick would work on them.”

“You want to see just how many little sword tricks I know?” the woman hissed and Yang held up her hands in a peacemaking gesture. 

“Not really. One was good enough for me. I’m just sayin’ that if you wanna make it to Tuff, it’d be better to travel with somebody.”

“Why should I travel with you?” 

“Cause I’m Yang Xiao Long, baby!” Yang said, puffing up her chest proudly. The woman didn’t react and Yang’s confidence faltered. “Bounty hunter? Savior of the Adel Party? Brought in Roman Torchwick five times?” The woman raised an eyebrow and Yang frowned. “Nothin’?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” the woman said and Yang sighed.

“Gods, you’re really not from around here, are you?”

“I’m a recent arrival,” the woman said coldly.

“I’ll bet.” Yang huffed and put her hands on her hips, far enough away from her revolver that the woman didn’t think she was reaching for it. “Listen, I just wanna make sure you can get to Tuff, okay? You never have to see me again after that.”

The woman pursed her lips in thought for a moment, then extended her hand gingerly. “Deal. You get me to Tuff and I never have to see you again.” Yang sighed and shook the woman’s hand firmly. “Yang, right?”

“That’s me.”

“I’m Blake,” the woman said, “Blake Belladonna.”

“Well all right then, Blake Belladonna,” Yang said, walking back towards Ember and climbing up. She offered a hand to Blake, who accepted it and climbed up behind her. “We should have another hour of travel before we need to stop for the midday heat. As long as there’s no trouble, we’ll get to Tuff in a week and a half.”

“Will there be trouble?” Blake asked and Yang cocked her head to the side in thought. 

“Probably not. It’s not bandit season yet.”

“Bandit season?”

“The bandit clans like to attack more often in the spring and fall, sometimes in winter. The summer, like now? Most are hiding out in their caves to escape the heat,” Yang said with a shrug.

“You seem to know a lot about them,” Blake said, the implication clear in her tone.

“I should,” Yang said with a shrug, “I hunt them for a livin’.” She urged Ember to get moving again and glanced back at Blake. “You’re not a bandit, are you?”

Blake sighed and shook her head. “Not anymore.”

Yang shrugged and turned back. “Works for me.”


	2. Day Two-Horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang takes Blake to Tuff, where they resupply. Blake gets a makeover and a horse of her own, while Yang starts to fall hard.

Tuff was, by definition, a town. In reality, and by observation, it was a handful of shacks that happened to be in between Vacuo City and other, larger, towns beyond, closer to the border of Vale. Still, it had everything that a wanderer might need, a general store, a stable, a small blacksmith, and a few places to stay. Everyone knew that Tuff was a stopover town, a place to resupply and rest your head on something that wasn’t a rolled up shirt or a particularly soft rock. Everyone also knew that it was a place where nobody asked questions. As long as you had the money, you could get whatever you were looking for. In everything but name, Tuff was a bandit town and that suited Yang just fine. None of them had outstanding bounties, and the people in Tuff were surprisingly less likely to rip you off than someone in a more ‘civilized’ place. 

“So this is it,” Yang said, gesturing broadly at the unremarkable and, frankly, underwhelming town of Tuff. 

“Oh,” Blake said, slumping slightly in the saddle behind Yang. Yang craned her neck to look behind and quirked her eyebrow.

“What is it?” she asked and Blake sighed.

“I was hoping for...more. There’s not really enough here to start over, is there?” Blake said dejectedly and Yang frowned slightly. Over the course of the past week and a half she had gotten the barebones of Blake’s story. Apparently she was somebody of note back in Menagerie, until she’d fallen in with the wrong crowd and wound up being branded a traitor. Now she was on a different continent entirely, sailing the long way around the world to throw off any pursuers, and was hoping to start a new life either in Vacuo or Vale. She’d started some kind of trouble back in Vacuo City, something that Blake referred to as a ‘matter of honor’. Yang had shrugged it off, she was used to trouble and the trouble Blake had caused didn’t get her a bounty. Even if it had, Yang didn’t think she’d collect on it. She rather liked Blake, reserved and quiet though she was.

“Well, maybe not enough to start a new life, but there’s a general store,” Yang explained, pointing the store out, “and a stable to get your own horse.” She turned to smile at Blake, who returned in weakly. “Then you’ve got the freedom to start your new life wherever you like.”

“Right,” Blake murmured, “and what about you?”

Yang shrugged, “I dunno. I’ll check with the sheriff, see if there’s any bounties. If not, I’m makin’ my way to the border towns. Why?”

“Just curious,” Blake said, swinging a leg over Ember and dismounting with a grunt. She took a step towards the general store, then turned and said, “Do they take Menagerien notes here?” 

Yang frowned and furrowed her brow. “The fuck’s a Menagerien note?”

“This,” Blake said, reaching into her robe and fishing out a slip of paper with a man’s face printed on it. The man looked strong and regal, with piercing eyes and a strong jaw, covered up by a strap of facial hair. Yang narrowed her eyes as she saw the man, noting the same kind of eyes that Blake had. But that had to be a coincidence, Yang thought, surely Blake would’ve said if she was related to someone important enough to be put on money. Yang pursed her lips in thought for a moment, then shook her head. 

“I think you’re outta luck, darlin’.”

“Shit,” Blake muttered, then sighed heavily and mumbled something.

“Hmm?” 

“Can you help me buy supplies and a horse?” Blake said, louder this time. Yang leaned back in surprise. In all their time traveling together, Blake had never once asked for help, not even when she’d struggled to start a fire for thirty minutes. By the time it was hot enough to cook anything, Yang had already eaten a can of cold beans and started to fall asleep. Blake continued, “I’ll owe you.”

“Favors don’t do me much good from people who travel,” Yang said and Blake nodded ruefully, “But tell you what. I’ll buy your supplies, and a horse, and some new clothes,” she nodded meaningfully at Blake’s rob, which she had taken to wearing a bit more openly in the heat, “and you help me track down a bounty or three. Enough to cover the cost.”

“That sounds fair to me,” Blake said after a moment’s consideration, then pointed at the store, “In there?”

“Food and clothes,” Yang said and Blake nodded, walking off. Yang clicked her tongue and Ember followed. After hitching the horse outside, Yang followed Blake in, swinging open the door and making the bell overhead ring out cheerfully. The woman behind the counter smiled, a piercing gaze behind her enormous glasses, and said,

“Mornin’! What can I get for you?”

Yang sidled up to the counter and leaned on it, tipping her hat graciously and winking at the woman, who flushed pink. “Mornin’. We’re lookin’ for supplies, enough to get to the border. And clothes for my friend here,” she gestured at Blake, who was shuffling uncomfortably under the gaze of the woman. 

“Of course,” the woman said, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Blake. “You can find your own supplies?”

“Wouldn’t be a very good cowpoke if I couldn’t,” Yang said with a shrug, “Why?”

“She’s going to take a lot of work. What is she even wearing?”

“A robe,” Yang said quickly as she felt Blake’s gaze snap up towards the woman and heard the subtle shift of cloth as her hand drifted towards her sword. “Don’t worry about it, all right? Just get her some travelin’ clothes, three sets.” 

The woman behind the counter sighed and shook her head. “Very well. Come with me, deary,” she said walking around the counter and gesturing for Blake to follow her, “I’ll need some measurements, so I hope you don’t mind comin’ into the back with me.” Blake nodded and followed the woman into the back, where Yang knew there to be a small changing room, and rolled her eyes at Yang as she passed. As soon as the two were in the back, Yang set to gathering their supplies, more than enough to get them to the border towns. She knew better than to assume they’d get there on schedule, the trip from Vacuo City to Tuff had been a lucky break. 

By the time she finished gathering supplies, she heard the woman in the back exclaim, “Well, don’t you look lovely?”

“I look like a doll,” Blake hissed, “Yang said traveling clothes, how am I supposed to travel when I can barely walk?”

“Well excuse me, ma’am. I figured you’d be used to dresses, considerin’ your...previous attire,” the woman said and Yang smirked as Blake let out an exasperated groan. “Fine! Fine, pants and overalls and all that worker’s nonsense for you,” the woman said, then grumbled, “I swear, I have all these dresses and nobody,  _ nobody _ , wants to buy them.”

“Maybe you should sell them somewhere else,” Blake snorted and the woman snapped back,

“Maybe you should watch your tone if you want a proper fit, missy.” 

Blake grumbled something else, but apparently it wasn’t anything too nasty as a few minutes later she emerged dressed for the climate. She was in overalls and work boots, over a loose grey button down shirt with a purple bandana and a wide brimmed hat on top of her head. She raised her eyebrow as she saw Yang staring and snapped, “What?”

“N-nothin’!” Yang exclaimed, leaping to her feet from leaning on the counter, “You look good, is all.”

Blake furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. After a moment, she mumbled a small, “Thanks.” Yang smiled softly at her and Blake stepped back into the main room with a bag for her other clothes and her robe neatly folded on top, her sword still at her hip.

After paying for their supplies and Blake’s clothes and getting it all loaded up on Ember, Yang led the way to the stables. The moment they were close enough, Blake increased her pace, almost skipping as she approached the entrance. She stepped inside and Yang followed, smiling gently as she watched Blake prance from stall to stall, cooing softly to the horses. A confused looking man watched her for a moment, then asked bluntly, “She gonna buy somethin’ or what?”

“We’re buyin’,” Yang assured the man, “We are, just give her some time to pick one out, all right?” The man nodded and went back to cleaning some tack as Yang walked up to Blake, who was currently feeding a long strand of hay to a chestnut mare. “You want one that’s gonna be dependable,” Yang said as she approached, “one that can do long days and don’t mind haulin’ things. That one looks a bit,” Yang frowned as she searched for the word, settling on her father’s favorite description, “fancy-like.”

“I know how to pick a horse, Yang,” Blake said softly, “This isn’t the horse I’m picking. I just like them.” She reached out and stroked the horse’s neck, earning a small knicker in response before turning around and pointing at another one, a huge, black mare that barely looked like she fit in the stall she was in and desperately wanted to run free. “That’s the one I’m after.”

Yang furrowed her brow as she saw the horse, who pawed at the ground nervously upon being looked at. “That one? She looks like she’d buck you as soon as look at you.”

“Scared you won’t have the biggest horse anymore?” Blake teased lightly, walking up to the horse’s stall. Yang rolled her eyes and followed, muttering,

“I’m not that petty.”

As Blake approached the horse snuffled and huffed, leaning down its massive head curiously. Blake reached up to stroke her, and the horse huffed again, eyes reflecting Blake and Yang in their black depths. The man cleaning tack scoffed, and Yang turned to see him watching the whole affair.

“You don’t want her,” he said, “Ol’ Bertha’s never been good with people. She’s a problem horse.”

“Well that’s a good thing,” Blake said sharply, so sharply that the man flinched and Yang felt that same heat creep up her spine. “I’m a problem person.” She looked up at the horse and smiled softly, her eyes gentle. “And her name’s not Bertha. It’s Gambol.”

Yang cocked her head to the side. “Gambol?”

“It ain’t Gambol, it’s Bertha,” the man said firmly and opened his mouth to say more when Blake cut him off,

“Her price and half on top says her name is Gambol.” 

The man gasped and Yang’s jaw fell open. “Her price and half?” the man managed and Yang sputtered,

“Blake, I got money but I don’t think I got that much.” She turned to look at the man and asked, “How much is she, anyway?”

“At that price? Five fifty.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” Yang grumbled, reaching into her pocket for her wallet but once again Blake’s voice commanded the room.

“Or I could just mention that you’re smuggling illegal dust crystals in the hay bales.” Once again, Yang and the man snapped their heads over to stare at Blake, who was now leaning against the stall and casually cleaning her fingernails with her dagger. “I know a really good bounty hunter, I’m sure she’d love to collect on that kind of money.” Yang grinned, feeling a happy warmth spread throughout her body as she glanced at Blake, who smirked. Yang’s hand drifted to rest on her revolver and she turned to look at the man.

The man looked at Yang, who raised an eyebrow in response. There was a long moment of silence until finally the man cursed and said, “Take the fuckin’ horse, just don’t tell anyone what you saw.”

“Thank you,” Blake said sweetly and walked over to the stable wall, taking off enough equipment to saddle up Gambol. She slowly opened the stall door and slipped inside, Gambol nickering softly at her. “I know, girl. We’ll get you on the road soon, don’t worry.” As though the horse could understand Blake, she settled down and allowed Blake to saddle her up. Blake hauled herself up into the saddle after opening the stall fulling and clicked her tongue. Gambol walked out slowly and purposefully and Blake smiled down at Yang, who smiled back broadly. She followed Blake out the stable doors, flipping a coin at the man as she went by. 

Yang climbed back up into Ember’s saddle and shot a grin at Blake, who returned it. It was a bit strange, Yang admitted to herself, to have to stare up at Blake now but she knew that Ember appreciated the lighter load. “How’d you know he had dust crystals?” Yang asked as they walked out of town, business concluded and the midday heat passed by. 

“There were flecks on the tack he was carrying,” Blake said with a shrug, “and I could smell it on the hay. He was smuggling fire dust.”

“In hay?” Yang asked and Blake nodded. “Stupid plan.”

“But it got us Gambol, didn’t it?” Blake said, leaning down and patting Gambol's neck. Ember whinnied in a ‘why don’t you ever do that to me?’ kind of way and Yang rolled her eyes, reaching up and scratching Ember behind the ears. Ember nodded happily and Yang rolled her eyes.

“It sure did,” Yang said, smiling fondly at Blake as she settled back into her saddle. “C’mon, let’s get some bounties.” With that, they both clicked their tongues, urging their horses into a trot, and made their way to the local sheriff’s office. There was always somebody with money on their head in Tuff, Yang knew, and it didn’t much matter to her if they were paid by the law or another bandit clan. In Tuff, you didn’t ask questions. It was safer that way.


	3. Day Three-Campfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After traveling together for a few months, Yang and Blake take some time to patch up their wounds around the campfire.

Yang had never been happier to have somebody traveling with her. Blake was more than able to keep up with the bounty hunting lifestyle, taking to it like a fish to water. She was also equally good at tracking as Yang, noticing little shifts in the sand and tiny marks in the shrubs that Yang might have missed. When asked about it, she just shrugged and said, “Fishing.”

Yang knew better than to question a good thing when it was right in front of her, and not asking for any more than half the bounty money once the debt was paid off. The past three months had been the most profitable and productive of Yang’s life, and the two were sitting pretty on a nice pile of money.

Blake was just as good in a fight, able to use her sword to devastating effect even against opponents using firearms. That, she had said, was a result of changing times back in Menagerie. Guns were common, but most people still had an appreciation for martial arts and melee weapons. Over the years, Blake had learned how best to close the distance to someone with a gun. She was so effective that it was almost supernatural, weaving between lines of fire and ducking under bullets like she could see them coming a mile away. Yang was glad that she was working with Blake rather than tracking her down. 

But what Yang appreciated most, especially right now, was Blake’s medical skills. Her study of the blade had not stopped her from learning other skills and right now she was bandaging up Yang’s thigh, swearing the bounty hunter out the whole time. “I told you to wait for me, but no! ‘I’m Yang Xiao Long, I’m the best bounty hunter in Vacuo’, now look at you, bleeding out by the campfire.”

Yang snorted with laughter to cover up the pain of her newest wound, a gunshot that had slammed into her thigh. “I’m not bleedin’ out, I’m fine, thanks to you.”

“You’re lucky I like you,” Blake said, scowling down at Yang and tightening the bandage, which made Yang wince. 

“I’m glad you like me,” Yang said as Blake helped her sit up, “otherwise these past few months woulda been a bit of a waste.”

“Except for the money,” Blake scoffed and Yang rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, that too.” Yang fished around in her pocket for a moment and brought out a cigarette, before lighting it off the fire. She smoked for a few moments before saying, “How’re you don’? No injuries?”

“None,” Blake said with a shrug, “a few nicks in my blade, but other than that I’m fine.” Yang grunted and stared into the fire, watching the flames dance for a few minutes and smoking in silence until Blake said, “So what’s Patch like?”

Yang looked over with a raised eyebrow and said, “Patch? It’s a little village in Vale.”

“I know that,” Blake said, waving away the explanation, “but what’s it  _ like _ ?” What are the people like, what’s the weather like, what’s your home like?”

“Oh,” Yang said softly, her mood dropping like a stone. “It’s far away is what it is.” She glanced up at Blake who folded her arms across her chest, and Yang sighed. “Patch is just a couple houses in the woods, really. Enough people there to call it a town, but not enough to really both putin’ it on the map most times. Mostly fishermen and hunters. I grew up there, me and my sister Ruby, my dad Tai, and my mom Summer. It’s nice,” she looked into the fire wistfully, feeling a sudden urge of homesickness so strong that she almost bolted for Ember and started riding off right then and there. “I wanna go back there, someday.”

“Why’d you leave?” Blake asked and Yang sighed.

“I wanted to make a name for myself,” she said softly, “Can’t do that in a little town like Patch. Vacuo seemed like such a dream, you know? A place you could be anybody, be a hero, save the little guy from bandits. It’s worked out all right,” she glanced at Blake and smiled softly, “better since I met you.”

Blake laughed quietly and murmured, “But you still miss Patch?”

“Yeah. I miss my family, mostly, but I miss Patch too. I miss the way the wind moves in the leaves, the way the waves crash on the shore, the way the seagulls wake you up better’n any alarm. Seasons change too, which is nice.”

“Not like here,” Blake said softly and Yang shook her head.

“Nope, not like here.” She took the cigarette out of her mouth, half done as was her habit and flicked it into the fire. Or rather, she would have if Blake’s hand hadn’t snapped out and grabbed the cigarette out of thin air, returning it to her mouth as Blake started to smoke the remaining half. Yang stared for a moment, dumbfounded. There were only a handful of people who were that quick, Yang included. Not only was it a testament to Blake’s skill, but it also was so incredibly  _ hot _ that Yang felt the need to take off her jacket and let it rest on the ground next to her. 

“What?” Blake asked and Yang gulped heavily. 

“Nothin’. Just...that was impressive.” Blake smirked and rolled her eyes.

“You’re easily impressed, Yang.”

“Only by an impressive woman,” Yang said honestly and Blake raised an eyebrow in mild interest.

“Careful Yang, I might be inclined to think you’re flirting.”

“Can’t be,” Yang said with a small laugh, “I’m a terrible flirt.”

“Good thing you’re pretty, Xiao Long,” Blake said dryly, flicking the cigarette. It was good that she looked away to do that, otherwise she would’ve seen Yang’s face go red as she blushed so heavily she thought she was going to faint. 

“I-I dunno about pretty,” Yang stammered, “I prefer ruggedly beautiful.” Blake looked over and smiled around the cigarette before saying,

“Yeah, you’re that too.”

Gods was this what flirting was supposed to be like? If it was, then Yang was falling for Blake, hard, and Blake didn’t even seem to be trying. Yang cleared her throat and took a big drink of water, trying to flush the blush back down with limited success. “Th-thanks, Blake.”

Blake laughed softly and Yang looked over to see her smiling gently at her, “No problem, Yang.” They were silent for a long moment, then Blake looked over and asked, “Can you teach me how to shoot?”

“Why?” Yang asked, feeling a rush of relief that they were back on a topic that she did know something about. Guns were much more familiar than flirting with someone who was probably the most beautiful woman in the world. 

“I might need it. Besides, I like learning,” Blake said with a shrug, flicking the but of the cigarette into the fire. “So, can you teach me?”

Yang nodded slowly and said, “Sure. Let’s resupply first and I’ll do it. You’ll be the best damn shot in Remnant.” Blake smiled at her and Yang returned it happily, then Blake stretched and yawned. 

“We should sleep,” she said softly and Yang nodded.

“Yeah, we should. Stick by the fire, it’s gonna be cold tonight.” Blake nodded curtly and started to get ready to sleep. As she went about her habits, slowly stripping out of her overalls and bundling up her jacket into a makeshift pillow, Yang stared into the fire for a long while. Images of Patch swirled in her mind, of her childhood home, the farm, her parents, Ruby...the homesickness returned, stronger this time, and Yang considered asking if Blake wanted to get a headstart on traveling to town that night, but a heavy yawn cut her off. Not tonight, Yang decided, she could bring up the idea of heading back to Patch tomorrow. They could pick up a few more bounties on the way and maybe some gifts for the family. She needed something to show for her travels outside of a few bounties and a fresh batch of scars. 

The next town over, one of the border towns, had a post office. That would be a good thing to do too, to send a letter home. At the very least, Yang wanted her family to know she was safe. The last letter she’d sent had been a month ago, and she knew how her mother worried. Worrying ran in the family and she could almost picture Summer and Ruby moaning about how much they wanted to hear from Yang, off on her adventures as a bounty hunter. Yang smiled, feeling a single tear slide down her cheek at the thought. 

Gods, she missed home, she missed Patch. She wanted to see it again, and to show Blake all her favorite spots. There was the lake in the hills where she used to go swimming with Ruby after chores, the clearing in the woods where she had practiced shooting, the beaches...there was so much to see. Yang couldn’t wait to see it all with Blake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really enjoying doing Beehaw week, though the next few days meander a bit.


	4. Day Four-Singing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Blake walk down the road, swapping stories and enjoying each other's company, when a stranger from Atlas challenges one of them to a duel.

“I’m serious!” Yang exclaimed, gesturing wildly in the evening air. The sun was setting behind her and Blake as they walked along the road, getting in a few more hours of travel before bedding down for the night. “Six shots, point blank, not a one hit.”

“You’re lucky, Yang, and they were a bad shot,” Blake said with a roll of her eyes.

“Point blank!” Yang said, waving her hand in front of her chest as though to demonstrate how close the gun had been.

“I believe you,” Blake laughed, “just not sure what you think is so impressive about getting lucky.”

“Nah, those are stories for another time,” Yang said with a wink and Blake groaned and shook her head. “But seriously, I shoulda been a goner. No idea how they missed that badly.”

Blake snorted, a noise echoed by Gambol who tossed her head as they walked, “That’s nothing, I once was in a battle with a rival bandit clan and they-” Blake frowned and flicked her ears, “You hear that?”

Yang furrowed her brow and looked around under the brim of her hat. “Not yet,” she said, knowing that Blake’s hearing was far better than her own, “What is it?”

“It sounds like…” Blake narrowed her eyes and twitched her ears to listen more closely, “Singing. Somebody’s singing. They’re good, too.”

“You know the song?” Yang asked, urging Ember to keep moving. Blake followed suit, Gambol matching pace with Ember.

“No. It sounds like something from Atlas,” Blake said and Yang cocked her head to the side, the strains of a song beginning to reach her ears. It did sound like something from Atlas, all long phrases and high, piercing notes. And, Yang had to admit, the voice was beautiful. “What’s the plan, Yang?” Blake asked, grabbing Yang’s attention.

“We’ll stay on the road for now,” Yang said slowly, “It’s too open to risk an ambush, and I can shoot faster than most people, so if they try to draw on us, I’ll get ‘em.”

“I’ll swing wide,” Blake said, untying the hilt of her sword from its scabbard and popping the blade out a hair. She started to trot Gambol a few feet away to the far side of the road. It was their normal response to people approaching them on the road, one to distract, the other to flank and get around the potential threat, in case of a fight. It had saved their lives on more than one occasion, both from bandits and rival bounty hunters. Yang started to chat about whatever came to her mind, how to comb out Ember’s coat in this case, and kept walking, trying to seem as casual as possible.

The woman on the road, who was indeed singing as she walked, was dressed in the high class Atlesian style, a poofy shirt under a leather jacket, with wool pants buttoned up above the waist and leather boots, complete with a wide brimmed hat and an obscene amount of belts, one of which had a long, thin rapier hanging from it. The woman stopped, long white hair fluttering in the wind and Yang noted she had sharp blue eyes, a long, red scar over her left, which seemed milkier than the other. She stopped dead in the road, planting her feet shoulder width apart as though to block them. “Halt!” she shouted.

Yang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Blake, who shrugged and started to bring Gambol to a halt. They stopped twenty feet away from the women, who glared at them from underneath her hat. “What’s you business, stranger?” Yang called out and the woman stood up a bit straighter upon being addressed.

“I must, regrettably, ask to duel one of you. You seem fine people,” the woman said, hand already drifting to her rapier, “I’d hate to kill you.”

“Well, I’d hate to die,” Yang said, placing her hand firmly on her revolver and snapping open the strap. “But only one party’s gonna be walkin’ away from a fight, stranger, and it sure as hell ain’t you.”

“I don’t want a fight,” the woman said slowly, as though explaining something to an idiot, “I want a duel.”

“What’s the difference?”

“A fight is just sword on sword, gunfire and blood. A duel is a matter of honor. I must duel one of you to prove myself an honorable combatant,” the woman said curtly and Yang glanced at Blake.

“Well, you’re the honorable one of the two of us.”

“Are you pushing me into a duel, Xiao Long?” Blake asked, an amused smile on her face.

“I’m not pushin’ you into anythin’. You don’t wanna do it, I’ll just shoot her and we can be on our way.” The white haired woman sighed heavily and shook her head, muttering to herself about dishonorable people who ruled in Vacuo. Blake listened for a moment, her amused smile growing, then shrugged.

“I’ll do it, on one condition.”

“Name it,” the woman said and Blake swung one leg over Gambol, landing on the ground with a solid thud.

“First blood at the torso, not death. I’ve got a whole life ahead of me, and I don’t think my companion will take too kindly to you killing me,” Blake said, jerking her thumb at Yang, who waved with a small smile, one hand still on her revolver. The white haired woman nodded slowly.

“I can agree to that. I must know your name, for purposes of honorific combat,” the woman said.

“Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna. I accept your challenge to a duel,” Blake said smoothly and the woman’s eyes widened as she heard the name. “And you?”

“Weiss Schnee, daughter of Willow and Jacques Schnee,” she spat the name ‘Jacques’. “First blood at the torso, Lady Belladonna.”

“Lady Belladonna?” Yang asked, raising one eyebrow as she watched Blake nod and slip into a fighting stance, one foot sliding behind the other. She drew her sword slowly, letting the metal hiss as it graced the hilt. The white haired woman, Weiss, drew her rapier and flicked it up to her face, before bowing. Blake bowed at the waist and then the two locked eyes. 

There was a long moment of silence, stretching on and on as the sun dipped below the horizon behind them. It reminded Yang of the fights from those old stories her mother Summer used to tell her and Ruby when they lay down to sleep, stories of revenge and epic warriors, battling under waterfalls and in the light of the moon. Yang had more than one such duel under a swift sunset. It was the perfect time for such a thing, and Yang wished she was half as good a writer as Blake seemed to be, otherwise she’d put the whole thing to song.

Then Blake and Weiss dashed at one another, almost too fast for Yang to see. Weiss thrusted at Blake’s chest and Blake slapped the rapier aside with her blade before stepping forwards and bringing her blade to Weiss’ throat. Weiss gasped in surprise and her eyes flicked between Blake and her blade before she muttered a small, “Interesting. But not a win.”

“Seemed like a win to me,” Yang yelled and she heard Blake snort with laughter. Weiss huffed and backed away, the two combatants taking their positions again. Another long silence, another sudden blur of motions. Blake swung low and Weiss guided the blade aside with her own, throwing Blake off balance. Blake yelped and stumbled, then screeched and fell back, one hand flying to her face. Yang sat up in her saddle and stared in mounting outrage as Blake lowered her hand, a fresh slash across her cheek. “That’s cheatin’! She didn’t cut you!” Yang yelled, drawing her revolver but Blake held up her hand, stopping her in her tracks.

“It’s fine, Yang. Seems like Miss Schnee doesn’t know her own strength.” Yang huffed and slid her revolver back into its holster, grumbling,

“Don’t know her own strength, my ass, that was a step too far,” but neither Blake nor Weiss reacted. They took their places again and Blake slid her blade back behind her body at the hip, hiding it from view. Yang saw Weiss narrow her blue eyes, the milkier one reacting a bit slower than the other. She stared for a moment in confusion, then shrugged and raised her rapier again. That, Yang knew, was a mistake. More than one bandit had made the same mistake of thinking that Blake was trying to get fancy with them, but Yang knew that Blake never messed around in a fight. Especially now that blood had been spilt. 

They rushed forwards again and Weiss slashed at Blake’s chest. Blake brought her sword up from behind her hip with blinding speed, slamming into Weiss’ rapier and tossing it aside. Weiss gasped in surprise and turned to try and follow it, only for Blake to step behind her and slash once across her back. It was light, more cloth than flesh, but a slow trickle of blood ran off Blake’s sword. Weiss screeched and leapt away, arching her back in pain and stumbling over her own sword. Her feet tangled up and she collapsed into the dirt, rolling and grabbing her sword. She stared up at Blake, who calmly took out a handkerchief and cleaned off her blade before sheathing it. Blake met Weiss’ eyes and shrugged, “I win.”

Weiss stood up, her feet unsteady beneath her and took out what looked more like a doily than a handkerchief, cleaning off her own blade and sheathing it. “So you do.”

“It was a good fight,” Blake said and gestured at her cheek, “I didn’t expect that slash.”

“Yes, it was a good fight,” Weiss said, straightening up and Yang winced at the thought of cloth and dirt in her wound. “You’re an excellent swordswoman.”

“Thank you. I’ve worked hard to become so.” Blake smiled softly at Weiss, who ran a hand through her hair and looked away. “Would your honor stop you from receiving some care for that wound? I’d hate for you to die from something that was supposed to be a friendly duel.” Weiss frowned and studied the ground, as though the answers she was looking for were in the dirt. She sighed heavily after a moment and said,

“No, I don’t think it would. I appreciate the help.”

“Of course,” Blake said with a nod, then looked at Yang, who was watching the entire affair with raised eyebrows. “You mind if we stop here for the night?”

“Nah,” Yang said with a shrug, dismounting from Ember, “We’ll get to the border towns around the same time regardless.” Blake nodded quickly and began to unload her bedroll and cooking supplies, as well as some bandages for Weiss. 

“You know how to build a fire, don’t you?” Blake asked and Weiss blushed in embarrassment, mumbling,

“No. I’ve never had to before.”

“What is it with y’all and travelin’ through Vacuo with no idea what you’re doin’?” Yang asked, leading Ember and Gambol off the road a ways, choosing some brush that would hide them nicely in case of any ill intentioned night time travelers. Blake and Weiss followed, and Weiss huffed,

“I didn’t ask to be brought to Vacuo, that’s just where the ship landed. I should be chasing my honor in Mistral, they’ve got much friendlier people there.”

“Sure, if you fancy gettin’ stabbed in the back,” Yang said, then glanced at Weiss who glared back at them, “No offense or nothin’.”

“None taken,” Weiss said dryly, stripping out of her jacket and draping it on a nearby bush. She ducked behind her makeshift cover to take off her shirt as well, and held out a hand. “Water, if you please?” Yang handed a canteen to Weiss, who began to pour water across her back to clean the dirt. “I’ll need one of you to take a look at my back and make sure I haven’t missed anything.”

“I’ll do it,” Yang said, and Weiss agreed. She wandered back to Blake and started to help her set up camp. Once she was sure they were out of earshot of Weiss, she leaned over and asked, “Lady Belladonna?”

Blake sighed and shook her head, black hair tossling in that beautiful way it had, one that Yang had come to love. “My family’s pretty important back in Menagerie.”

“You said that,” Yang replied, “If they’re so important that some Atlesian glory hound knows you, why’re you out here?”

“I fell in with the wrong person,” Blake said, then laughed bitterly, “One wrong person in particular. Things didn’t work out. I was too soft for them, and they accused me of treason. So I ran.”

“You were too good a person?” Yang asked and Blake looked over sharply. “That’s what dad says bein’ soft is. Bein’ too good of a person for somethin’ bad. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with bein’ soft.”

“There is when your leader wants to use you to kill your own father,” Blake said softly and Yang’s eyes went wide.

“Fuckin’ hell, Blake.”

“Yeah. He-Adam-is ambitious, and he has the cruelty to get what he wants. If I’d seen it earlier, I could’ve done something.”

“Your father-” Yang started to say and Blake cut her off.

“He’s fine. They’re safe, hiding in the mountains. The only trail we left behind was the one I left, leading to Vacuo.”

Yang was quiet for a long while, busying herself with setting up a tent they’d picked up in one of the border towns, and listening to Weiss who had begun to sing as she cleaned her wound. “So they’re comin’ after you?”

“Adam is,” Blake said, “He promised he would, and he’s just obsessed enough with me to do it.”

Yang righted the tent and looked at it with a satisfied gleam in her eyes before saying, “If we see him, I’ll kill him.”

“You’ll have to beat me to it,” Blake said, her voice wavering. Yang looked over to see her smiling confidently, but it was strained and painful. Yang smiled softly and murmured,

“We’ll do it together.”

Blake pondered this for a moment, then held out a hand. “Sounds good to me.” Yang shook Blake’s hand firmly, and the two went back to work, Weiss’ singing filling in the gaps that words never could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea got out of hand so beautifully and is now evolving into a much longer fic, so we'll see how that goes.


	5. Chapter Five-Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharing a room with Blake in one of the border towns, Yang is woken from her dreams by the sounds of her friend whimpering in her sleep. In an effort to comfort her, the two become closer than they could have ever dreamed.

A whimper was what broke Yang out of her dreams. She’d been having a wonderful dream about dancing with a beautiful, mysterious woman. They had danced the night away to a lively fiddle and singing from someone that Yang knew she could recognize, but the face remained hazy and unclear. But the woman she was dancing with, they were beautiful. Utterly gorgeous, captivating in a soft, gentle, serene way that Yang could barely begin to comprehend, never mind describe.

But all those thoughts were banished at the sound of sharp jerks of movement and whimpers coming from the bed. Yang sat up from her makeshift bed on the floor of the saloon room, brushing the hair out of her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, Yang felt her heart sink and she gasped in horror. Blake was tossing and turning in her sleep, interspersed with soft cries and mumbles. It wasn’t the first time that Blake had nightmares on their trips together, and it also wasn’t the first time that Yang had been woken up because of them, but this was by far the worst she’d ever seen them. While normally Blake would mutter a few things under her breath and maybe twitch her arms a few times, now she was all but thrashing in her sleep. 

Yang leapt to her feet and stumbled over to Blake, hands hovering nervously over her body as she tried to figure out the best way to wake Blake up without causing her any more distress. “Uh...Blake?” Yang called out softly and Blake’s thrashing slowed for a moment before beginning again all the harder. Yang cursed and reached out, gently placing a hand on Blake's shoulder and saying, “Blake, you okay? It’s me, Yang.”

Blake’s eyes snapped open and she shrieked, one hand trapping Yang’s to her shoulder and the second reaching under her pillow and snatching her dagger. She placed it at Yang’s throat, breathing hard as Yang stared in shock. After a long moment, Blake let out a strangled cry and collapsed back to the bed, her dagger falling away. Yang let out a heavy breath and said,

“You okay?”

“Fine,” Blake mumbled, rolling so her back was to Yang. 

“Well...okay,” Yang said softly and stood back up, rubbing at the spot on her neck where Blake’s dagger had been. “Uh, goodnight then.” She had made it back to her bed and began to sit back down when Blake sat up and said,

“Sorry about the dagger.”

“It’s okay,” Yang murmured, smiling gently at Blake, who looked like she wanted to scream. 

“It’s just…” Blake trailed off, waving her hand as though to pluck words from thin air. “Nightmares.”

“You gonna be able to sleep?” Yang asked and Blake sighed, looking out the small window over the sleepy border town they found themselves in. Normally, she and Yang had separate bedrooms but the saloon was nearly full and Weiss, who had taken to tagging along, wasn’t about to share a room with either of them. So they had bunked together, the bed for Blake and the spot on the floor for Yang. 

“Probably won’t be able to sleep, no,” Blake said after a long moment of silence and Yang frowned.

“You wanna talk about it?” Yang asked, standing back up to lean on the bed frame. Blake frowned, staring out the window for a while before murmuring, 

“Not really. It’s complicated and it’s all wrapped up in politics back home.” She smiled at Yang, though it was a weak effort. “You wouldn’t be interested.”

“Maybe not,” Yang said softly, “But you’re my friend, Blake. I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

Blake’s smile grew soft and she finally met Yang’s eyes, gentle lilac staring into wistful amber. “I’ll be okay in the morning. I just have to remember that he’s a few thousand miles away and I’m here, with you. I’m safe.”

“Okay,” Yang said, and started to sit back down again, saying, “I’ll grab some tea from the general store tomorrow while I’m resupplyin’.”

Blake mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ before Yang lay back down and tried to fall back asleep. But her mind was too wired to sleep now, so she opened her eyes back up and stared at the blank ceiling above her, wondering if there was some other way she could help. Yang had never considered herself to be the best at giving comfort, some people would call her too callous and reckless with her own emotions for that, but she needed to do  _ something _ . For now, she supposed, tea would have to do. 

They lay there in silence, both in their own thoughts, until Blake said, “Yang?”

“What’s up, Blake?” Yang said and Blake took a long, low breath before responding.

“You mentioned how you would sleep in the same bed as your sister when she had a nightmare.”

“When we were kids, sure,” Yang said, sitting back up so her eyes were above the bed frame. Blake was still laying on her side, hand clenching and unclenching into a fist.

“Would you mind…” Blake sighed heavily, “I want to know if it could help me. If you want to.”

“Oh,” Yang said, standing and scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. “Sure.” She climbed into bed next to Blake, making sure to leave plenty of room between the two of them, made all the easier by the fact that Blake slept on top of the covers. The moment her head hit the pillow, much softer than her rolled up shirt, Yang began to doze off. Blake curled up, still facing away from her, but hummed happily.

“You’re warm,” Blake mumbled, a sleepy slurriness entering her voice, “I like it.”

“Rubes always said I was like a fire,” Yang said with a laugh, “Had to open the windows some nights to stay cool.”

“I bet she did,” Blake said softly, snuggling closer. They still weren’t touching, but it was much closer than they had been before. 

“Hope it helps, Blake,” Yang said and Blake hummed softly. Before another word was said, Yang drifted off to sleep.

The morning came like it always did, with Yang waking up slowly as the sun burned a hole in her eyelids. She opened her eyes gently, letting them adjust to the sunlight, and found herself laying next to Blake. They were pressed lightly against one another, Yang’s arm around Blake’s waist and Blake’s head tucked into Yang’s chest. Unlike most mornings, Blake was still asleep. Yang took a moment to stare lovingly down at her, feeling a swelling warmth in her heart as she stared at Blake, who was snoring softly as she slept. Yang considered waking her, but decided that it could wait. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Although, Yang mused, Blake would probably love to wake up to a hot cup of tea. So, Yang slowly and carefully extricated herself from Blake and gently rolled out of bed, sneaking to the door in a manner that she would have found comical were it not for her need to let Blake sleep. Blake was usually exhausted after her nightmares, and her peaceful sleep right now wasn’t something that Yang wanted to be responsible for ruining. 

By the time that Yang returned from downstairs, after a lovely conversation with the owner of the saloon about tea, Blake was waking up. She stretched her arms high above her head and Yang had to avert her eyes to keep from staring at the teasing glimpse of hard muscle that the shirt revealed, or the way that it tightened around her chest. Blake smacked her lips and smiled when she saw Yang.

“Morning coffee?”

“Mornin’ tea,” Yang said with a soft smile, walking up to Blake and offering the tea. “Got it for you.”

“Oh!” Blake exclaimed, taking the tea as her smile grew wider, “Thanks, Yang.” She took a small sip and hummed happily before murmuring, “You remembered my favorite.”

“Sure did,” Yang said, sitting on the foot of the bed. “You feelin’ okay after last night?”

“Much better,” Blake said, “Having you there really helped, I think. The tea helps too.”

Yang laughed and nodded slowly. “Anytime you need somethin’ like that, you let me know.”

Blake hummed again, this time in thought, and said, “How about tonight?”

“You think you’ll have nightmares again?” Yang asked and Blake shook her head.

“No. I just really liked having you that close.”

“O-oh,” Yang stammered, blushing as she looked away. “Yeah, I can do that. I-I like havin’ you that close too.”

Blake laughed softly and offered the mug to Yang, “Here. You need some of this.”

“Thanks darlin’,” Yang said with a wink and sipped at the tea, a small, silly thought entering her head. “It’s like an indirect kiss.”

“And you call me a romantic,” Blake said with a roll of her eyes, taking the mug back. Yang smirked and shrugged,

“You’re the one who goes lookin’ for romance novels in every town we stop in. It’s cute.”

“Yeah? Is that what I am, cute?” Blake teased and Yang smiled softly at her. Blake’s teasing eyes changed, becoming tender and adoring in a mere moment.

“Yeah, you’re cute,” Yang said softly, “Gorgeous, really. Like a beautiful sunset but like...all the time.”

“You should stick to shooting, Yang.”   
“Not good enough for your romance novels?”

“Not really,” Blake admitted, “But it’s good enough for me.” Yang felt that same swelling warmth in her chest and smiled gently, almost lost in the caring embrace of Blake’s amber eyes. “How about a direct kiss?”

“What?” Yang asked, almost unsure if she’d heard right.

“You said that sipping from the same mug was like an indirect kiss. How about a direct one?” Blake asked with a small laugh and Yang furrowed her brow.

“With you?”

“Do you see anyone else?”

“And...with me?” Yang asked, almost unwilling to believe it. Blake laughed softly and placed her mug of tea on the nightstand.

“If you want,” she said and Yang nodded hurriedly, enthusiastically.

“I do,” she whispered and Blake gestured her forwards with one finger.

“Then c’mere.” Yang leaned forwards and Blake met her in the middle. Their lips met gently, tentatively, almost too light a touch to feel, but the moment they kissed Yang’s heart exploded with a thousand emotions, each one more wonderful than the last. They kissed again, more firmly this time and Yang reached up, cupping the back of Blake’s head as Blake cupped her jaw, stroking her cheek with one thumb. They kissed again, and this time Yang melted into the kiss, allowing herself to just feel it. It felt wonderful, indescribably so, like everything was coming to a wonderful conclusion in her life, like the stars were aligning. Gods, it felt so good to kiss Blake, Yang thought. It felt like she was never supposed to kiss anyone else, like her lips, her heart, her soul, had been custom made for Blake.

They parted after another kiss and Yang breathed out small, “That was...wow.”

“Yeah,” Blake said, smiling as they pressed their foreheads together. “You wanna start every day like that?”

“Please?” Yang asked and Blake laughed before kissing her again. Yang didn’t know what lay ahead of them, their little trio traveling across Vacuo, but as long as she got to hold Blake every night and kiss her every morning, Yang knew that everything would work out just fine.


	6. Day Six-Cantine/Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking some time to relax at a local saloon, Yang, Blake, and Weiss add a fourth companion to their party.

To say that the scene unfolding before the intrepid trio of Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee was both shocking and unorthodox would be an understatement. Rather it was by far the most exciting thing that Yang had seen in weeks, with the bounties running dry between three very skilled bounty hunters teaming up and most of the bandits wisely running for other kingdoms. The lull in exciting, death defying adventures had spurred Yang to bring her new friend and girlfriend-girlfriend, she still couldn't believe it-to a local bar on the outskirts of town. This bar, Yang knew, was much more likely to have a few unruly patrons that could lead to a bar fight, which was exactly what Yang needed to let off some steam and keep in shape. 

Junior’s Saloon was a low brow, run down place full of unsavory characters and more than its share of health code violations, but it was still an excellent place to grab a drink and gamble a few Lien away. All that was to be expected, including the private army that Junior employed to throw out a few patrons who got too unruly or decided to pass out on the floor. What nobody expected, especially said private army if the amount of unconscious bodies on the floor was any indication, was the absolute dervish of a woman fighting off the remainder of Junior’s goons. She stood out from the black shirts and red ties of the goons, dressed in a puffy shirt like Weiss, as well as leather pants, a tricorn hat off kilter on top of her bob of green hair. A pair of weapons that must have belonged to the woman were slung over a chair, namely a sickle and what looked like a sawn off rifle. Yang bounced eagerly on the balls of her feet as she watched the woman duck under a punch and return with a cross to the goon’s jaw, the goon dropping like a sack of horse feed. 

The woman backpedaled, getting herself stuck in a corner, red eyes searching wildly for a way out. The trio of bounty hunters watched with three distinct levels of interest, absolute joy for Yang, mild amusement for Blake, and utter horror for Weiss. 

“So,” Blake said, leaning against Yang as she spoke, “should we go somewhere else?”

“You kiddin’?” Yang asked, shooting Blake a grin, “I’m half tempted to hop in.”

“I’m surprised your impulsiveness hasn’t led you to so far,” Weiss grumbled and Yang shot her a shit eating grin over Blake’s head. “Honestly though, should we help her?” They all turned to look at the woman who screeched as she was thrown across the room, then chased by more goons. “There’s four of them after her.” The woman rolled as she hit the ground, snatching up a chair and swinging it into one of the goons, the chair splintering upon impact. The goon did a backflip and slammed on the ground hard, letting out a halfhearted groan before passing out. “Three of them,” Weiss corrected herself and Yang laughed. 

“Nah, she seems fine,” Yang said. As though to spite her, two more figures entered the fight, a pair of twins in dresses of red and white whom Yang recognized as the Malachite twins. The moment they entered the fight, things changed, overwhelming the woman’s defenses. One blocked a punch and jabbed out, punching the woman in the throat before the other one delivered a thunderous kick to the woman’s chest. She yelped and was thrown backwards, sliding across the floor until she wound up in front of the bounty hunters. Yang smiled down at her and the woman groaned, holding out a hand.

“Little help?” 

Yang laughed and grabbed the woman’s hand, hauling her to her feet. “Go get ‘em,” Yang said and the woman nodded curtly before leaping back into the fight. 

“She could just give up,” Weiss said, folding her arms across her chest and Yang nodded slowly.

“She could, but I bet she’s got a bone to pick with Junior. That’s usually what causes things like this.”

“Do you know a lot about that?” Weiss asked and Yang smiled sheepishly, remembering the numerous times she had gone through this same process to find the location of a bounty. 

“I’ve been through town a few times,” Yang said and Weiss huffed softly before turning back to watch the fight. They watched as the woman was thrown against the bar, then snatched up a bottle of whiskey and took a long swig. She held up one finger, which one of the Twins tried to grab to get a hold on her but the woman dropped her hand away and smashed the bottle against the Twin’s head. The Twin screamed and dropped, clawing at her head to clean out any glass which made the other Twin bellow and charge. The woman opened her arms with a bloody smile, one tooth hanging loosely in her mouth, egging on the attacker.

“She’s self destructing,” Blake said softly and Yang turned to her with a raised eyebrow and a grunt of curiosity. “I’ve seen it before, hell, I’ve done it before. She doesn’t think she has anything else to live for, so she’s trying to make the rest of her miserable life as short as possible.”

“That’s...surprisingly dark for you, Lady Belladonna,” Weiss said and Blake groaned.

“Call me Blake, we’ve talked about this.”

Weiss huffed again and started to explain, for the seventh time that week, that it just wasn’t  _ right _ to call someone as important as Blake by her first name, and Blake explained that she wasn’t in a position of importance any more, so it didn’t matter. They might’ve continued for a while, had Yang not gently grabbed Blake’s hand, drawing her attention back to Yang.

“You’re okay now, right?” she asked and Blake nodded softly, reaching up to tip Yang’s hat over her eyes. 

“I’m fine now, cowpoke. Never been better.” 

Yang smiled and adjusted her hat, feeling Blake entwine their fingers as they turned back to watch the woman finally slug the second Twin across the face, sending her sailing across a table. The woman let out a long, loud grunt and leaned heavily on the bar, reaching around and grabbing another bottle of whiskey. Yang gestured inside and led the way, Weiss grumbling all the while about how they could’ve avoided all this if they’d just gone somewhere reputable. 

The three leaned on the bar on the opposite side of the woman, stepping gingerly over the groaning goons on the ground. Yang reached over the bar and dragged out a pair of beers for her and Blake, as well as some rum for Weiss. They all popped the tops off their drinks and cheersed before taking a long drink. Yang smacked her lips appreciatively, then glanced down at the woman who was taking large swigs of the whiskey. “Free drink night, huh?”

“If you want to fight, give me a fucking second,” the woman said between swigs, breathing heavily.

“Nah, no fights from us,” Yang said, smiling at the woman, who gave the three a once over out of the corner of her eye. “What’s your story, stranger? What got you on Junior’s bad side?”

“I got into town,” the woman said, “Punched the doorman when he got handsy. You saw the rest.”

“Where ya from?” Yang asked, and the woman turned to look at her fully this time, keen red eyes taking in Yang’s friendly smile and her calm demeanor. 

“Who wants to know?”

“Just a fellow traveler,” Yang said, holding up her hands in a peacemaking gesture, “I’m Yang, Yang Xiao Long.”

The woman’s lips quirked into a smile and she said, “Savior of the Adel Party, right?”

“That’s me,” Yang said proudly, then looked back at Weiss and Blake, “See? I  _ told _ you people know that story.” She turned back to the woman and said, “These are Blake and Weiss, my partners. We’re bounty hunters.” Blake waved, leaning around Yang to get a look at the woman and Weiss flicked her hair out of her eyes. 

“Sorry I’m not worth anything,” the woman said, sliding the empty bottle of whiskey away and reaching for another, “I wouldn’t mind testing myself against the legendary Yang Xiao Long.”

“Maybe another time,” Yang said with a shrug, “But maybe you should tell me your name, so I can keep an eye out. I’ll make a note of it, pick up any bounties with your name on ‘em.”

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time,” the woman drawled and Yang winked.

“I never keep a girl waitin’.”

The woman scoffed and shook her head. “I bet.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest, stumbling a little from the alcohol and the fight, “Sustrai, Emerald Sustrai.”

Blake leaned around Yang and narrowed her eyes in the same way that Yang recognized when Blake was tracking down a bounty, clever and calculating. “Emerald Sustrai? I know that name.”

“Yoush...you should,” the woman named Emerald slurred, the bottle of whiskey hitting hard and fast, “I wash on th’...th’...” Her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she collapsed, drooling on the floor. 

The three women stared at the green haired woman who was crumpled on the ground in front of them and Yang let out a low whistle. “Well, shit.”

“What do we do now?” Weiss asked, walking around them and kneeling down, touching her fingers to Emerald’s neck. She nodded with satisfaction and rolled her onto her side, “Just passed out. If it’s from the alcohol, she’ll sleep it off.”

“And if it’s not?” Yang asked and Weiss looked up with a quirked eyebrow. 

“If it’s from a concussion, she won’t wake up at all.”

“Oh.”

“Exactly. So, what do we do?” Weiss asked again and Yang sighed, running a hand through her hair. She was getting a bit tired of finding fighting women to bring along on her adventures, especially now that she and Blake had started to explore their relationship more, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave Emerald passed out on the floor.

“Well we can’t leave her here,” Yang said, walking over to Weiss, “Junior will just kill her if we do that.”

“She can sleep it off in the saloon with us, on the floor,” Blake said as she walked up, placing a few Lien on the counter. “Tomorrow morning she can decide what to do.”

“I don’t think she’ll wanna come back to Patch,” Yang snorted and Blake nodded ruefully. “Honestly, I’m surprised that you do, Weiss.”

“There’s a better chance of restoring my honor in Vale. Patch is just a stop on the way, and Beacon is the best school for duelists in the kingdom,” Weiss said, slinging one of Emerald’s arms over her shoulders and Yang grabbed the other, while Blake grabbed Emerald’s weapons. They hauled Emerald to her feet, the woman’s head lolling between them, and draped her arms across their shoulders. As they walked out of the saloon, Blake holding the door open for them, Yang took a long breath of fresh air. 

“We’ve got quite a party formin’, don’t we?” she asked nobody in particular and it was Blake who responded.

“I don’t mind,” she said softly, “I missed having someone to travel with.” Yang looked over with a soft smile and Blake returned it, the two lost in one another’s eyes as they walked. Yeah, Yang agreed, it was better to travel with someone than alone. If Emerald was as skilled at tracking down bounties as she was in bar fights, Yang considered the idea of expanding their little bounty hunting group again. The more the merrier, and all that.


	7. Day Seven-Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang returns home with her friends and relives some old memories with Blake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final day of Beehaw Week! Thank you to Sayohyou for putting this on, it was so much fun!

“Yang!” 

Yang looked up from Ember, leaning over her and gently speaking into her ear as the quartet made their way up the long mountain road to the Xiao Long-Rose house. Up on top of the mountain itself was someone in a red hood, waving frantically. Yang broke out into a smile and shouted back, “Ruby!” Immediately her little sister all but threw herself down the mountain in her hurry to reach Yang, stumbling over rocks and roots as she went. Yang dismounted from Ember just in time to get tackled to the ground by her sister, who screamed happily into her chest.

“Yang! You’re back!” Ruby squealed, hugging her sister as tightly as she could. Yang laughed happily, giving her sister a bear hug as they rolled to a stop on the ground, in front of the three perplexed women who were still coming up the road. “I missed you so much! I’ve got so much to tell you, I got my own horse and I started working on a new weapon and Nora stopped by the other week and dropped of some Dust crystals for me to experiment with and-”

“Okay, Rubes,” Yang said, giving her sister another squeeze, “Lemme get up first.” Ruby pouted, but rolled off her sister and the two stood, brushing dust and dirt off their clothes. Ruby looked at Blake, Weiss, and Emerald and jumped as if seeing them for the first time. Yang smiled softly as she saw that and reached out an arm to hug her sister across her shoulders. “I brought some friends. Hope that’s okay with dad.”

“He’s in town,” Ruby said distractedly and Yang followed her gaze to find her intently studying the weapons each woman had on their person. “We got plenty of room now that we got the addition finished.”

“You finally did that?” Yang asked, remembering the extra bedroom that her father had wanted to build onto the house for years, and Ruby nodded.

“Yeah, me and mom banged it out over the past month or so. Dad was too busy trying to get his hunting license renewed.”

“Port still givin’ him trouble?” Yang aske and Ruby rolled her eyes. 

“He always is, says dad shoulda been a fisherman or some other excuse every time.” Ruby glanced back up at the three women and smiled broadly. “Hi! I’m Ruby, Yang’s sister.”

“Hi Ruby,” Blake said with a wave and a small smile, “I’ve heard a lot about you. Yang talks about you all the time.”

“Good things, right?” Ruby asked and Yang snorted with laughter.

“Not on your life, Rubes.” Ruby huffed and folded her arms across her chest with a pout, which made Yang laugh. She gestured to Weiss and Emerald, introducing them in turn. They both waved, Weiss in the curt, professional way she had, and Emerald rather lazily, as though she couldn't be bothered. Ruby waved excitedly to both of them, then leapt back and gave Ember a hug around her neck.

“How’s my second favorite horse?” Ruby cooed and Ember nickered in dismay. “I got my own horse now, girl! You can’t be my favorite anymore, I’m sorry.” Ember huffed and looked away pointedly and Yang laughed again before grabbing the reins. 

“C’mon, Ruby, let’s get everybody settled in,” she said and Ruby nodded quickly, leading the way up to the house. It was only another few minutes walk until Yang set eyes on the log cabin that had been her childhood home. It looked exactly like she remembered it, with a small window overlooking the forest in the kitchen, a chimney pumping out smoke in the cool spring air, Ruby’s makeshift blacksmith shack peeking around the corner, and a small stable on the side. If it weren’t for the new addition sticking out near the back it would’ve looked like it was trapped in time, like Yang had wandered into one of her own memories. Ruby was chatting with Blake, Weiss, and Emerald as they walked, a one sided conversation on the basis that none of them got a word in edgewise,

“So y’all can put your horses in the stable. We should have room, since dad and mom are in town, and then we can getcha moved into the new room. It’s got two beds, but they’re big, so if two of ya don’t mind sharin’ it’ll work out. I can get a cot set up if you do.”

“I think we’ll be fine without the cot,” Emerald said dryly and Weiss laughed, earning a confused smile from Ruby.

“You don’t mind sharin’?” She asked, bits and pieces of Yang’s budding Vacuon accent slipping into her own manner of speaking. 

“Blake sure doesn’t,” Weiss teased and Blake rolled her eyes. Ruby’s confusion only grew, furrowing her brow as she tried to suss out the meaning, when Yang cleared her throat awkwardly.

“With me, Rubes. Blake’s gonna sleep with me.” It took another moment for Ruby to put two and two together, and she squealed in surprise.

“You two are-You’re-and Blake-Yang!” Ruby said, cuffing Yang lightly on the shoulder, “You didn’t say anything about that in your last two letters!”

Yang walked Ember to the stalbes, smiling cheekily at her sister as she went, “I wanted it to be a surprise. Mom always said to go make somethin’ of myself, so I did. Picked up a beautiful woman on the way, too.”

“Is that all I am to you, Yang?” Blake teased, riding up so she was walking abreast of Yang, “A pretty face?”

“Nah,” Yang said with wink, “You’re also kind, and sweet, and beautiful, and rugged, and a damn good fighter who can take my breath away with every moment.”

“Shut up,” Blake said, a blush spreading across her face and Yang grinned cockily.

“What? You asked.”

“Yeah, I did,” Blake said and leaned towards Yang, who met her in the middle as they kissed. Ruby gagged and shook her head, walking at a brisk pace to avoid the sight, which made Emerald laugh. 

“Can y’all save that for when I’m not around?” Ruby grumbled as they all approached the stables. Yang gasped as she saw the horse inside. They were a beautiful chestnut red mare with a dark black mane, idly munching on some hay. Yang led Ember into a stall next to the new horse, who looked up in mild interest as a new face appeared. 

“Is this her?” Yang asked and Ruby nodded proudly.

“That’s Rose. Got her a few months back and we’ve been out riding almost every day. We just got in when y’all showed up.” Ruby reached out and gently stroked Rose’s side, making the horse whiney softly. “She’s a good horse, like Ember.”

“You sure know how to pick ‘em,” Yang said almost reverently as she watched Ember and Rose greet one another, huffing softly as Rose took in Gambol and the horses of Weiss and Emerald, Myrtenaster and Respite respectively. 

Ruby smiled softly up at Yang, who returned it and gave her sister another one armed hug. “I learned from the best,” Ruby murmured and Yang felt a swelling pride in her heart.

“Thanks Rubes.”

“I meant dad.”

“You mea-” Yang let out a groan and turned away in mock offense before beginning to off Ember’s tack. “You meant dad, my fuckin’ ass you meant dad.” Ruby cackled and skipped away towards the house, calling back,

“I’ll meet y’all inside once you're moved in! Yang can show you around, I’m makin’ dinner!” Yang waved at her sister before she vanished inside the house and cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Dinners that Ruby make usually aren't...edible,” she said sheepishly, which made Emerald roll her eyes.

“Can’t be worse than your cooking,” she said and Yang gasped in shock, putting a hand on her chest.

“I’m a good cook! I cook all the time!” she exclaimed and Emerald laughed with a shake of her head.

“Heating up beans isn’t cooking, Xiao Long,” she yelled back as she slid the bridle off of Respite before leaning towards the horse and murmuring softly to her, a small smile on her face. Yang huffed and slid off Ember’s saddle, mounting it on a hook outside the stall. 

“Better’n you can do, you can’t even make coffee,” she grumbled, knowing full well that Emerald had spent her time learning how to pick pockets rather than cook. Blake and Weiss watched the exchange with amused expressions before sharing a knowing eye roll. This wasn’t the first time that Yang and Emerald had this argument, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Once everyone had finished taking care of their horses, Yang tipped her cap dramatically and gestured to the house, “C’mon then ladies, it’s time for the tour.”

The tour was short, but Yang was still happy to give it. The house really was exactly the way she remembered, a large living room connected to the dining room, a small kitchen tucked in the corner where Ruby was wrangling with vegetables, the hallway with rooms shooting off of it for everyone, one for Ruby, one for Yang, one for Tai and Summer, and one that was locked with a small black bird painted on the lower corner, as though by a child. Yang’s face fell when she saw it, writing the room off for her friends as a storage room. That was basically what they used it for anyway, memories of the woman who’d used it as a bedroom buried underneath twenty odd years of junk and broken furniture. Finally they reached the room on the far end of the hallway, and the new addition. Yang stepped inside, letting out a low whistle as she took in the completed addition. The room was a guest bedroom, complete with two beds, dressers, mirrors, and basins for water. It must’ve cost a fortune, Yang knew, wondering if she could put a bit of her bounty money towards footing the cost. Tai would never have it, of course, but she would offer nonetheless. 

“So this is where Weiss and Emerald’ll be stayin’,” Yang said, gesturing at the room. Weiss and Emerald entered, and Weiss immediately set about meticulously putting her things in the dresser while Emerald dumped all of her things on the bed, to be sorted later. “Y’all can get cleaned up, dinner will probably be around sunset,” Yang said cheerfully and both women nodded in acknowledgment. With that, Yang led the way back down the hall, Blake in tow behind her, and opened the door to her room, which had a small golden dragon painted on the door. 

Her room was exactly how Yang had left it, from the bookshelf stuffed with too many books, to the yellow blanket she loved so much folded neatly at the foot of her bed, to the dresser in the corner with a tiny music box set on top. Yang sighed happily as she stepped inside, letting her back of things fall to the floor. The bed was smaller than she remembered, Yang mused, but that was probably just because she was bigger. She’d grown a few inches since she’d left home, after all. She heard Blake set her bag on the floor and felt her arms wrap around her, a happy hum resonating through both of their bodies.

“Good to be home?” Blake asked and Yang nodded slowly.

“Yeah, it’s nice to be back. I’ve missed it,” she said quietly, “Gonna be a tight fit on the bed.”

“I’m okay with that,” Blake said and Yang laughed softly. “I like snuggling up with you. It’s nice, you’re warm.”

“And you’re just so...so…” Yang sighed as she tried to think of the perfect word, all her learning and reading failing her as she settled for simpler explanations. “We fit together nicely.”

“Yeah we do,” Blake said and Yang turned her head to give her a quick peck on the cheek. Blake smiled at the kiss before leaning her head on Yang’s shoulder. There was a long moment of silence, just them standing there contentedly, until Blake asked, “What’s the music box?”

Yang sighed heavily and shook her head. “It was a gift from my mom, Summer. I used to listen to it whenever I was sad.” Yang’s mind brought up images of herself as a child, opening the music box to cover up the sound of her crying whenever she thought of Raven. “You wanna listen to it?” she asked and Blake was quiet for a moment.

“Not if it has bad memories attached to it,” she said softly and Yang smiled gently.

“It does, but I wanna make new memories with it. Memories with you,” she whispered and Blake nuzzled her head into the crook of Yang’s neck. 

“Now who’s the romantic?” she asked and Yang laughed before reaching out to open the music box. It was a simple tune, a dozen measures of plinking sound that Yang knew by heart. She started to hum the song as it played, turning to face Blake and placing her hands on Blake’s hips. Their eyes met, stunning amber staring into beautiful lilac, and Yang felt her breath leave her body entirely. Gods, Blake was beautiful. She was everything that Yang had described her as outside and so much more. Yang didn’t believe in gods or blessings, but if they did exist then she thanked them for every minute she got to spend with Blake. “You know what we’ve never done?” Blake asked quietly and Yang cocked her head to the side, setting her hat on the dresser and letting her hair cascade down her back in a golden waterfall.

“What’s that?”

“Danced. We’ve never danced,” Blake said and Yang’s gaze softened even further, her smile growing. The music box stopped, its song finished, and Yang absentmindedly closed it and reopened it, the song starting up again.

“You wanna dance now?” she asked and Blake nodded. Their hands found one another, Yang’s resting on Blake’s waist and Blake’s on her shoulder, their other hands entwining in the air like they were dancing at a fancy dinner party. 

The song was simple and their dancing simpler still, just slowly turning in circles in the too small bedroom, but to Yang it was better than any symphony and any complicated choreography. It wasn’t just any dance, it wasn’t a dance you could find anywhere else. It was special, shared between two souls, between Yang and Blake. It was their dance, their song. Yang had never felt so in love before than moment, before she and Blake rested their foreheads together as they slowly danced in circles, blonde hair mixing with black locks, amber and lilac reaching out and combining into one, beautiful color that was undeniably theirs. It was black and yellow, amber and lilac, Yang and Blake. It was two whole people becoming so much more together. 

Yang smiled goofily as she realized all that, planting a small kiss on Blake’s lips and feeling Blake smile into the kiss. 

Black and Yellow.

Like a bumblebee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everybody for reading, this was a lot of fun to do.   
> Hope you enjoyed reading!


End file.
